McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Affiliated Faculty Member Elected a Fellow of ASME
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Richard E. Debski, PhD, associate professor of bioengineering in the Swanson School of Engineering, as well as the director of the Robotics Group in the Musculoskeletal Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, was elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME.)
Study Identifies Reasons to Opt Out of Bone-Marrow Donor Registries
According to a new study by McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Mary Amanda Dew, PhD, professor of psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, and biostatistics at the University of Pittsburgh and also the director of the Clinical Epidemiology Program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and fellow researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, race-specific factors, including religious objections and less trust that donated tissues will be allocated fairly, may help to explain why potential minority donors opt out of bone-marrow donor registries at far higher rates than whites. Additionally, they found that ambivalence about donation was the strongest predictor of opting out, regardless of race.
At the UPMC Eye Center, much of the research focuses on regenerative medicine, a field that started with restoration of heart tissue in the 1990s and has since included research into the use of stem cell therapy in vision restoration. The Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh is studying what can be done to treat the most common diseases associated with vision loss, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and corneal scarring.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty are trying to open a new front in the battle against gum disease, the leading cause of tooth loss in adults and sometimes termed the most serious oral health problem of the 21st century.
Reaching out to “high five” someone, grasping and moving objects of different shapes and sizes, feeding herself dark chocolate. For Jan Scheuermann and a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC, accomplishing these seemingly ordinary tasks demonstrated for the first time that a person with longstanding quadriplegia can maneuver a mind-controlled, human-like robot arm in seven dimensions (7D) to consistently perform many of the natural and complex motions of everyday life.
Excellence, Strong Research Help UPMC Reach 3,000 Heart, Lung Transplants
William Ferry almost never made it to UPMC for the transplant that would eventually save his life. Nervous about a surgery that had been performed so little in 1980, Ferry contemplated turning the car around and not showing up when word came that a donor heart had been found for him.
Co-PI Jonathan Waters, MD
Title Blood Filtration System for the Treatment of Severe Malaria Patients
Description The overall goal of the proposed project is to develop a novel blood filtration system, mPharesis™, for the treatment of severe malaria patients. The World Health Organization estimates that each year approximately 300 million malaria episodes occur globally resulting in nearly one million deaths, 85% of which are children. The majority of deaths are caused by severe malaria. Severe malaria is a leading cause of pediatric morbidity, hospitalization, and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is responsible for more than 200,000 cases of fetal loss and more than 10,000 maternal deaths annually. Severe malaria also occurs in 5% of the nearly 30,000 imported malaria cases by travelers from endemic areas. Even when managed aggressively with intravenous antimalarial drugs (artesunate or quinine) mortality rates range between 10%-22%, and as high as 40% for the most complicated cases. Blood exchange transfusion (ET) and erythropheresis (EP) have been effectively used to significantly accelerate the clearance of malaria infected red blood cells from circulation. A large body of medical studies has shown that these treatments if available are beneficial. However, the current systems used to perform these therapies are not engineered to selectively separate the infected cells from the non infected. Thus, to remove these toxic infected cells the entire patient’s blood is disposed – wasting in most cases between to 70%-95% of the healthy blood. This inefficacy results in larger than needed consumption of donor blood. Consequently, ET and EP therapies remain a prerogative of industrialized nations. This is precisely the motivation for developing the proposed mPharesis™ system – a system that will allow the removal of toxic infected red blood cells from the patient’s blood circulation with minimal or no use of donor blood. The mPharesis™ filter operates by targeting these cells’ unique (and well-known) magnetic properties. This system represents the first medical device of its kind to employ magnetic separation technology to clear these toxic cells from circulation. In this SBIR Phase 1 effort, we will complete the design verification of a first-generation mPharesis™. This objective will be accomplished by entailing experimentation and numerical simulation, to achieve a prototype optimized for high-throughput, high separation efficiency, and low residual parasitic load. In specific, the successful completion of this Phase 1, will yield a working prototype, suitable for animal testing (in Phase 2), capable of reducing the parasitic load (40%) to less than 1.0% within a time period of 3-4 hours, and demonstrating satisfactory hemocompatibility. mPharesis™ is intended for those millions of children and adults who have already reached the severe malaria stage, and will provide a life-saving measure for cases that do not respond well to conventional treatments — as too often occurs in the advanced severe stages of this deadly disease.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member Yadong Wang, PhD, associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, has led a study that resulted in arteries grown with elasticity outside the body, which are the closest to resembling natural blood vessels.
In a study entitled “High-performance neuroprosthetic control by an individual with tetraplegia,” which was recently published in the online version of The Lancet, a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh described the brain-computer interface (BCI) technology and training programs that permits a 52-year-old individual with tetraplegia to move an arm intentionally, turn and bend a wrist, and close a hand for the first time in nine years.
Highlights from the Second Annual Symposium on Regenerative Rehabilitation
A team of McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members and the Institute’s director recently coordinated and celebrated the 2nd Annual Symposium on Regenerative Rehabilitation held on November 12 & 13, 2012, at the University Club in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The event attracted approximately 120 participants – an international audience comprised of scientists, educators, rehabilitation clinicians, and students/ trainees. The overall objective of this symposium series is to highlight and provide evidence for the synergistic relationship between regenerative medicine and rehabilitation, and to promote cross-fertilization between these two fields.
Professors Elected AAAS Fellows
Two McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members have been elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). AAAS Fellows are elected by their peers in recognition of the recipients’ distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Honored with this prestigious title are:
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Affiliated Faculty Member Receives NIH Director’s New Innovator Award
Genetic Link Between Pancreatitis and Alcohol Consumption
A new study published online in Nature Genetics reveals a genetic link between chronic pancreatitis and alcohol consumption. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member David Whitcomb, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, cell biology and physiology, and human genetics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, along with other researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and more than 25 other health centers across the United States found a genetic variant on chromosome X near the claudin-2 gene (CLDN2) that predicts which men who are heavy drinkers are at high risk of developing chronic pancreatitis.
Pitt Team Receives $5.4 Million in DOD Grants for High-Definition Scans of Soldiers with Brain Injuries
Co-PI Kacey Marra and Kris Matyjaszewski
Title Tissue Engineered Muscle Constructs as Bio-mimetic Peripheral Nerve Interfaces
Lab Study Suggests That Male Fertility Can Be Restored After Cancer Treatment
According to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Magee-Womens Research Institute, including McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Gerald Schatten, PhD, professor and vice chair of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, deputy director at Magee-Womens Research Institute, and director of the Pittsburgh Development Center, an injection of banked sperm-producing stem cells can restore fertility to male primates who become sterile due to cancer drug side effects. In their pre-clinical study, previously frozen stem cells restored production of sperm that successfully fertilized eggs to produce early embryos.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine associate director Rocky Tuan, PhD, is the director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the executive vice chairman for orthopaedic research at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Tuan’s research focuses on the development, growth, function, and health of the musculoskeletal system, the biology of adult stem cells, and the utilization of this knowledge to develop technologies that will regenerate and/or restore function to diseased and damaged musculoskeletal tissues.
Regenerative Medicine Work to Develop Devices for Improving Lives of Amputees
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Christopher T. Bettinger, PhD, and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, PhD, and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member from the University of Pittsburgh, Kacey Marra, PhD, received $1.6 million for the next 4 years from the U.S. Army to improve the use of prosthetic devices.
Modeling Tissue Engineered Constructs
Recently, post-doctoral researcher Antonio D’Amore (pictured right) and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine director William Wagner, PhD (pictured left), professor of surgery, bioengineering and chemical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, director of Thrombosis Research for the Artificial Heart and Lung Program, and deputy director of the NSF Engineering Research Center on “Revolutionizing Metallic Biomaterials,” spoke with Tom Imerito, president of Science Communications, about the McGowan Institute, the Cardiovascular Engineering Laboratory, and Dr. D’Amore’s research project. Mr. Imerito learned and reported that the primary research interests of the Wagner Cardiovascular Engineering Laboratory in the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine are in the area of cardiovascular engineering with projects that address medical device biocompatibility and design, tissue engineering, and targeted imaging. The laboratory’s mission is to apply engineering principles to develop technologies that will improve the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease.
ECM: A Regenerative Medicine Tool
The use of mammalian extracellular matrix (ECM) or its derivatives as an inductive template for constructive remodeling of tissue is a common theme of most research activities in the laboratory of McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine deputy director Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD, professor in the Department of Surgery and director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering within the McGowan Institute. The focus of Dr. Badylak’s pioneering work has revolved around the structure and composition of naturally occurring ECM, and the signaling provided by this matrix to host cells toward functional tissue reconstruction. Dr. Badylak places high emphasis upon clinical translation of all activities in his laboratory, and work conducted there spans the full spectrum from basic science at the sub-cellular level to patient care at the bed side. As reported by David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the scaffolding material, now available commercially, has been used 3 million times worldwide to repair linings, wounds, and skin, with efforts under way to repair tendons.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Affiliated Faculty Member Elected to Institute of Medicine
Regenerative Medicine: Technologies Enabling Novel Therapies—Call for Abstracts
The 17th Annual Hilton Head Workshop—organized by Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Pittsburgh and co-chaired by McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine deputy director Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD, professor in Pitt’s Department of Surgery, and Robert Guldberg, PhD, director of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering & Bioscience and professor, Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech—will be held March 20-23, 2013. The theme for 2013 is “Regenerative Medicine: Technologies Enabling Novel Therapies.” The venue is the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island. The entire program will be built from submitted abstracts, with about 35 podium presentations, 8-12 “rapid-fire” presentations, and over 75 posters. Abstracts are due December 15, 2012.
Regenerative Medicine for Osteoarthritis
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine associate director Rocky Tuan, PhD, is the director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and the executive vice chairman for orthopaedic research at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Tuan’s research focuses on the development, growth, function, and health of the musculoskeletal system, the biology of adult stem cells, and the utilization of this knowledge to develop technologies that will regenerate and/or restore function to diseased and damaged musculoskeletal tissues. Recently, Dr. Tuan was part of a group of researchers interviewed by Dorothy Foltz-Gray, Lifescript. Ms. Foltz-Gray’s article, “Stem Cell Treatments for Joint Cartilage,” summarized the insights of Dr. Tuan as well as scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College, Duke University Medical Center, and Columbia University Medical Center’s College of Dental Medicine.
Project Awarded Funding: Targeted Molecular Therapeutics for Head and Neck Cancer
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Flordeliza S. Villanueva, MD, professor of medicine, director, Non‐Invasive Cardiac Imaging, and director, Center for Ultrasound Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics, is one of four investigators who are the first to receive awards from a fund established by the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science and Technology (COSAT) to support promising translational research. Dr. Villanueva’s project focuses on the development of targeted molecular therapeutics for head and neck cancer using microbubble vectors and ultrasound.
Co-PI Mary Goldberg
Title Experiential Learning for Veterans in Assistive Technology and Engineering
Description This engineering education research project will investigate the effectiveness of several different interventions designed to retain disabled veterans in engineering degree programs. A comparative study that looks at a range of characteristics related to retention in engineering will be done, and the results analyzed using the theoretical frameworks of social cognitive career theory and self-efficacy.
Brain-Computer Interface Technology Wins Breakthrough Award
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty members Elizabeth Tyler-Kabara, MD, PhD, UPMC neurosurgeon and assistant professor of neurological surgery and bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Engineering, and Andrew Schwartz, PhD, professor of neurobiology, Pitt School of Medicine, and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Michael Boninger, MD, director, UPMC Rehabilitation Institute, chair, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Pitt School of Medicine, and their team received a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award for their brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. In the award’s eighth year, Popular Mechanics continues to recognize the innovators and products that have dramatically advanced the fields of technology, medicine, space exploration, automotive design, environmental engineering, and more.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine faculty member, Eric Lagasse, PharmD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and his colleagues have demonstrated in a preclinical model that lymph nodes can provide a suitable home for a variety of cells and tissues from other organs, suggesting a cell-based alternative to whole organ transplantation might one day be feasible. In a report recently published in Nature Biotechnology, Dr. Lagasse and his colleagues showed in an animal model for the first time that liver cells, thymus tissue, and insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells can thrive in lymph nodes despite being displaced from their natural sites.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Faculty Member Named the Associate Dean for Research, Swanson School of Engineering
NRP’s Science Friday Addresses Regenerative Medicine
Ira Flatow, host of NPR’s Science Friday, recently spoke with two pioneers of regenerative medicine about the emerging science of regenerative medicine. The guests were Stephen Badylak, DVM, PhD, MD, deputy director, McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, professor in the Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and director of the Center for Pre-Clinical Tissue Engineering within the McGowan Institute, and Anthony Atala, MD, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The conversation reviewed the latest laboratory studies addressing tissue and organ repair and the challenges of someday growing complex organs such as the heart, liver, or brain. Some of the highlights of the conversation included:
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Faculty Member Part of Team Receiving António Champalimaud Vision Award
Grants for Education Projects Related to Wounded Veterans, Persons with Disabilities Received
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $472,794 grant to McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Rory Cooper, PhD, and Mary Goldberg of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) to study pathways for military veterans with disabilities transitioning into education. The project aims to create a model for such veterans and people with disabilities to succeed in Science, Technology, Education and Math (STEM) programs.
Regenerative Medicine Approach to Reconstitute Functional Musculotendinous Tissue
Massive loss of musculotendinous tissue as a result of trauma inevitably leads to serious patient morbidity, surgical challenges for the repair of such injuries, and/or amputation of the affected limb if surgical approaches prove to be untenable. A loss of tissue mass in the gastrocnemius muscle, quadriceps, biceps or triceps, or hamstring muscle group can pose significant surgical challenges. Free muscle grafts, pedicle grafts, and the use of prosthetic materials have all been attempted when primary repair is impossible due to loss of tissue domain; the results of such efforts are typically much less than satisfactory. When autologous grafts are used, donor site morbidity compounds the post surgical problems for the patient and a diminished quality of life follows. Stated differently, existing treatment options for loss of large masses of muscle tissue domain have very limited therapeutic options. A regenerative medicine approach that could reconstitute functional musculotendinous tissue, and by implication include adequate vascularization and innervation, would represent a paradigm shift in the treatment of traumatic tissue injury.
Request for Proposals: $100,000 Awards for Translational Research
The Wallace H. Coulter Translational Research Partners II (TPII) Program at the University of Pittsburgh funds translational research projects in healthcare, with the goal of accelerating the introduction of new technologies into patient care to address unmet clinical needs. Examples of desirable translational research projects and outcomes include systems and devices for the improved diagnosis and treatment of disease including both diagnostic and therapeutic solutions.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Affiliated Faculty Member Named Chair of Department of Neurobiology at Pitt School of Medicine
Co-PI Michael John Becich and Stephen R Wisniewski
Title Sarcoidosis and A1AT Genomics & Informatics Center
Progress is being made in opening a new front in the battle against gum disease, the leading cause of tooth loss in adults and sometimes termed the most serious oral health problem of the 21st century.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine associate director Rocky Tuan, PhD, and fellow researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have been awarded federal grants to create micro-models of an arthritic joint and the liver as part of a national effort to build 3-D chips of cells and tissues that could provide a more rapid and accurate method of predicting toxicity of experimental therapies, as well as foster greater understanding of myriad diseases.
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine Affiliated Faculty Member Named Fellow of Prestigious Biomedical Engineering Society
Sperm Precursor Cells Made in the Lab Could One Day Restore Male Fertility
McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Gerald Schatten, PhD, professor and vice chair of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, a deputy director at Magee-Womens Research Institute, and director of the Pittsburgh Development Center, was a member of the team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine who found that human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) can be coaxed into becoming precursor sperm cells, suggesting that it might be possible one day to restore fertility for sterile males with an easily obtained skin sample. Their findings are now available in the online version of Cell Reports.
Targeted Oxidation-Blocker Prevents Secondary Damage after Traumatic Brain Injury
According to McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty members (pictured left and right) David Okonkwo, MD, PhD, assistant professor with the Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, director of Neurotrauma and of the Spinal Deformity Program, clinical director of the Brain Trauma Research Center, and associate director of the Center for Injury Research and Control, and Valerian Kagan, PhD, professor and vice-chairman in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health as well as a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh, and also the director of the Center for Free Radical and Antioxidant Health, and a research team from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Graduate School of Public Health, and Department of Chemistry in a report published online in Nature Neuroscience, treatment with an agent that blocks the oxidation of an important component of the mitochondrial membrane prevented the secondary damage of severe traumatic brain injury and preserved function that would otherwise have been impaired.
